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Saturday, January 31, 2015

It hit me the other day the majority of my life has been spent waiting for one thing or another. Sometimes I bewail the fact that life seems like one big wait.

Of course this isn't true. There are plenty of projects and trials and answered prayers along the way. Looking at it from inside the brackets of a waiting period, though, waiting seems like the worst thing in the world. On the other hand, think how dull life would be without a little anticipation for what's to come?

"Do not fear or resent the
waiting periods in your life. These are the very gardens where the seeds of
faith blossom." -- from Lady In Waiting by Jackie Kendall and
Debbie Jones.

A friend of mine recently toughed out a waiting period regarding family relationships. In the midst of her pain she said to me, “Waiting is one of the hardest things in this life.” She is in
her sixties.

Our lives, in every season, will always involve waiting. Waiting for a job opportunity, a relationship, recovery of health . . . Even when we were little and always had something to get into, we had to wait for Christmas and birthdays. Boy, did THAT seem to take for-EV-er!

Every
person ever created has had to wait at some point in his/her life. Even our heroes of the faith had to wait:

-- Elijah
waited on God for food when fed by ravens at the brook Cherith.
-- Noah
and his family waited on God to release them from the ark.
-- Hannah,
Samuel’s mother, waited on God for a baby.
-- Israel
waited long years for the Messiah.
-- Jesus
himself is now waiting on God to signal that He can come get His bride.

When we come to these waiting periods, there are four
things we should know deep in our hearts:

What We’re Waiting On

Who
We’re Waiting On

Where We’re Waiting Spiritually

What to Do While We’re
Waiting

We’ll look at these items in 9 mini e-blasts over the next few months, the last one being broken down into six items.

The first thing we need to know is . . .

What
we’re waiting on:

What is the one thing you want most right now? It's important we learn
to identify the underlying desire and fulfill it by going to God.

What we need vs. what we want:

Psalms 37:4 Delight thyself also
in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

I always liked this verse growing up, because
in my mind, the “NBV” or "Natalie’s Brain Version”, it read, “Serve Jesus with a
cheerful spirit, and He’ll give you whatever you want.” Well--that’s not
exactly what it’s saying. The verse says He’ll give you the desires of your
heart. There is a difference . . .

“Usually, what we call ‘the desire of my heart’ is really a
secondary desire orbiting around the true desire. Usually, what we think we
desire is really the way we have imagined the true desire will be met. . . . We
think we are asking for the desire of our hearts, but we are really asking for
the desire of the moment. Often, in order to give you the desire of your heart,
God will withhold the desire of the moment. He only says no as a prelude to a
higher yes.” -- from Live a Praying Life by Jennifer Kennedy Dean

Praying for a financial windfall? The underlying desire may
be freedom or security.

Praying for a romantic relationship? The underlying desire may be
closeness or value.

Praying for a promotion? The underlying desire may be
approval.

Once we have these true desires identified, we’ll
probably still want the tangible request met. But in the meantime, we should
seek fulfillment for the underlying need in God. Study your Bible on the topic
of your specific need. Read devotionals on the subject. Listen to uplifting music that
speaks of God’s ability and willingness to meet your need. (I love using Spotify
for this. ;) )

We should also be careful to
not overlook the blessings we already have. Learning contentment plays a big part here. Count your blessings. Thank God for them. Thankfulness and contentment go
hand in hand.

“Do not spoil what you have
by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now have was once
among the things you hoped for.” -- Unknown

“Wherever you are, be all there.” -- Jim Elliot

“Never let the things you want make you forget the things
you have.” -- Unknown

Phil. 4:11b I
have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

I Tim. 6:6But godliness with contentment is great
gain.

Many times we pray and ask
God to show us the answer He’ll provide, so we can wait “patiently and
contentedly” and “trust” that He will take care of it. If we require a
guaranteed solution before we decide to trust, it is not trust at all.

Rom
8:24bBut hope
that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?

What about you? Are you in a waiting period in your life?

What could be the underlying desire?

I challenge you to do a Bible word search and look up
scriptures about that soul-deep desire. Bask in the One Who can meet those
needs better than anyone/anything else.

P. S. Valentine's Day is coming up. To all my fellow single ladies flying solo over the holiday, I'm sending a warm invite to next Saturday's post about My Valentine's Day Date With the King. I'll be sharing an incredible Bible Study I found that addresses every woman's heart desire for a mate. Don't miss it! (The link will go live at 12 a.m. on Saturday, February 7.)

P. P. S. The winner of last week's giveaway of The Covered Deep by Brandy Vallance is Ashley. Congrats! I'll be getting that out to you soon!

Saturday, January 24, 2015

I alternately wanted to weep and gape at the literary genius I was certain these pages would contain . . .

I was not disappointed.

The Heroine: Bianca Marshal

An exceptionally intelligent and adventurous country girl from Ohio, who reads everything she can get her hands on and longs to see the Holy Land almost as much as she longs to meet her knight in shining armor. I liked Bianca, though my first impression of her was bordering on "flibbertigibbet." Then I started seeing similarities between her and me (self-incrimination?), so I gave her a break. :) She had a LOT of growing to do as a heroine, but she braved out her journey and grew into a character to be proud of.

The Hero:

I was guessing about the identity of the true hero of this story until around the halfway point, so I'm not going to give away who he is exactly. Suffice it to say he's an incredibly deep, rounded, perfectly flawed character, and is, at this point, one of my TOP FIVE favorite heroes. He's mysterious, smart, an expert in his field, a man of devotion, but with a harrowing past and thus extremely vulnerable. Deep down under everything else, he's sweet as homemade peach cobbler.

The Setting:

I was awed by the scope of this novel. So many robust historical settings to take in. A Portsmouth, Ohio farmhouse. A London mansion. The British Museum. A luxury cruise ship. The gates of Jerusalem. An ancient Turkish mansion. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The Sea of Galilee. I know I'm forgetting something. I'm telling you, the journey was rich, and one of the six main characters is a historian, so you've got a knowledgeable tour guide to sweeten the experience.

The Baddies:

I genuinely liked some characters who turned out to be so desperate and wicked, it surprised me. The one I thought was the mastermind, was only a pawn. But that is one of the themes we'll look at below: discerning truth from falsehood. One of the "villains'" fates was unclear to me, and I would have liked to know whether he lived or died or found redemption. Therein is the novel like real life: not all the characters' lives are perfectly tied up with a bow by the end. I was impressed with the plotting and motives of these villains, however.

The Plot:
The mystery, the history, the glistering little details that connect them all. The reader never knows what's coming next or who will do what. I especially enjoyed that volatility, and it kept me reading into the night.

The Prose:

Ms. Vallance leads the reader through myriad senses and emotions with a beautifully poetic, descriptive style I expected to eventually find cumbersome, but did not in the least. I'm looking forward to more of her novels. I only hope I don't have to wait 14 years for the next one. ;)

The Themes:

Discernment, Redemption, Forgiveness. The examination of these subjects in this work was poignant and powerful. Never overtly trite, but played out in the characters' actions and emotions. The inter-workings of all the characters' motivations and goals was mind-boggling to try and figure out (though fully explained by the end), so I just kept reading instead and enjoyed the story in bite-sized bits as the master plot unfolded.

The End:

I admit, I wish the ending would have lasted longer. Thinking back, I don't know that there was anything more to be said, but I'm one of those types who like to bask in the afterglow when things are finally (mostly) right with the world again. I read on after the last page and soaked up the acknowledgements and
author's note, both of which added to the poignancy of turning the last
page.

Overall Effect:

I have the strongest urge to speak with a British accent after reading this novel, even though the heroine is American. I also can tell the author spent years perfecting this work. The vivid descriptions, the spot-on emotions, the character development . . . Kind of makes me despair of ever writing something this good! I'm so happy to have read it, though, and can't wait to see what else comes from the pen of Brandy Vallance.

To enter: follow my blog using the button in the right sidebar, then comment letting me know you followed.

So I can contact you if you win: Include your email address in the following spam-free format: email (at) address (dot) com.

For an extra entry: tell me your favorite film version of a Biblical character's story (Esther, David, Moses, etc.) or a period drama (Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, The Scarlet Pimpernel, North & South, etc.)

GIVEAWAY ENDS: Saturday, January 31, 2015.

If you can't wait on winning the paperback, the e-book is on sale for $1.99 right now for Kindle you can buy it HERE.

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Couldthe unusual things your ancestors did make a
good historical romance?

My
grandmother, Minnie, was an elocutionist who performed her original poems and
songs on stage in Colorado when she was a teenager. Among those was a humorous
poem based on the nursery rhyme, “Old Mother Hubbard,” and with a little smile,
Grandma recited it until she was in her 90s.

Grandma wrote poetry and her song, “Rocky Mountain Columbine,” was in the
running for the Colorado state song. She loved to play the piano and sing the
tune until she died in her early 90s..

She
wasn’t a redhead like my mother, but she had spunk. From what I’ve been told by
different relatives, she was orphaned at a young age and traded among
relatives. She ended up with an uncle in Pueblo, Colorado.

In Pueblo, she graduated from Centennial High
School and received a teaching certificate. Called High School of District One
in the beginning, the school was an adobe building renamed Centennial three
years later in 1876. It was one hundred years after the signing of the
Declaration of Independence and the year Colorado was admitted to the union.
Colorado was dubbed “The Centennial State,” and that’s how the school became
Centennial.

Some
relatives said, and others denied, that among all Grandma’s successes trouble
brewed. From what I’ve heard, the uncle was abusive. (I’m the youngest in the
family and not all the stories among us jibed.)

Whatever
the reason, Minnie packed a suitcase and took off walking.

Perhaps
she caught a ride on a wagon, but she ended up about 35 miles down the road
near Florence, Colo. She got a job teaching in a one-room adobe school.

In
that area is where she met William Shepherd, my grandfather.

He
died before I was born, but I’ve always been fascinated that he traveled around
in his youth showing one of the first Passion-of-the-Christ moving picture
shows. My brother has the reel.

As
with William in The Lady Fugitive,
Grandpa’s father was murdered.

After
they were married, Grandma and Grandpa moved to Iowa, where their farming and
ranching prospered. When my mother, Rita, went to college in about 1917, she
said money wasn’t a problem.

Then
Grandpa invested in sheep, and during the Great Depression of 1920, often
called, “the forgotten depression,”
they lost everything. They homesteaded near Walsenburg, Colo., and then Grandpa
became the sheriff in Alamo, a nearby mining community. He died of pneumonia one
night after making his rounds in the small mining town. My uncle had Grandpa’s
guns.

Grandma
took the money they’d saved, invested in two large houses in Pueblo, divided
them into apartments, and supported herself. She never married again.

I
wish I had been there to find out how my grandparents met and more details, but
I wasn’t. So The Lady Fugitive is the
story of Jenny Louise Parks and William O’Casey. They have some experiences
similar to my grandparents, such as Jenny, an orphan like Grandma, running away
from an abusive uncle. Yet in my story, she has a price on her head. But Jenny
and William and the events in The Lady
Fugitive are fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is entirely
coincidental, and it’s probably a good thing.

One
reviewer said, “Jenny will have you laughing, biting your nails, wishing you
had a gun to help.”

What else can you expect from a
fugitive?

How does a respected elocutionist become a face on a wanted poster?
Jenny Louise Parks escapes from the coal bin and her abusive uncle
offers a handsome reward for her return. Because he is a judge, he will
find her.
Determination to remain free grips Jenny, especially after she meets
William and there’s a hint of romance. But while peddling household
goods and showing a Passion of the Christ moving picture, he discovers
his father’s brutal murder.
Will Jenny avoid the bounty hunters? Can she forgive the person who turns her in? Will she find peace, joy and love?

MEET ADA BROWNELL

Ada Brownell is the author of five books, about 300 stories and articles in Christian publications, and she spent a large chunk of her life as a reporter, mostly for The Pueblo Chieftain in Colorado. She and her husband L.C., have five children, one of them in heaven, eight wonderful grandchildren.and two great-grandchildren.

Among her books: The Lady Fugitive, an historical romance released July 18, 2014, Imagine the Future You, a youth Bible study (November 2013). Joe the Dreamer:

The Castle and the Catapult, (Jan. 15, 2013); Swallowed by Life: Mysteries of Death, Resurrection and the Eternal, (Dec. 6, 2011); and Confessions of a Pentecostal, out of print but released in 2012 for Kindle; All the books are available in paper or for Kindle. Imagine the Future You audiobook is available at www.Audible.com Free book with new Audible membership.

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Hey, y'all! Jennifer Slattery is here today with a word from her main character in her upcoming novel When Dawn Breaks.

Have you ever been living your life,
going through the mundane but not really knowing it was mundane, only
to have something snap you out of it? Something drastic and
permanent?

Catastrophes have a way of making us
reevaluate our lives, don’t they? Of causing us to do a 180,
abandoning everything we once found important to chase after
something we’d never before considered.

At least, that’s what happened to me.
For the past two decades, I was chasing after success—a false and
depleting, and soon depleted, success. As a realtor, my schedule was
crazy, my paycheck unpredictable. The market would soar, and I’d
get caught up in the rush, easily pulling 70-hour work weeks.

No matter who I hurt. No matter how
many relationships I destroyed. But then I met Christ and started to
do things differently. Nothing drastic. I gave up clubbing for ladies
Bible studies, and allocated a chunk of my commission checks to the
church. I even served on occasion.

But my relationships continued to
flounder, most noticeably with my daughter. Delana and I haven’t
spoken, really spoken, since she was a teenager, and though I’ve
tried again and again to apologize to her and make things right, I’d
begun to wonder if perhaps my efforts were too little too late. This
sense of defeat, and a strong fear of rejection, kept me from truly
fighting for my daughter.

I’m not proud of this, but it’s
true.

So I retreated, sending out the
appropriate greeting cards, making an occasional phone call, all the
while praying for a miracle, anything to help me rebuild a
relationship with my daughter.

I prayed for a miracle. God sent a
hurricane.

Isn’t that often how it is? It’s
like we need a stiff kick in the pants to actually make a true
effort. At least I did. Pacing my living room floor, watching as
mandatory evacuations scrolled along the bottom of my screen, I felt
stuck between a rock and a hard place. Or more accurately, between a
hurricane and one of the biggest relational storms I’d ever known.

It was a tough decision. (*wink*) But
after a bit of coaxing from my bestie, I headed north to begin the
long trek toward what I hoped to be reconciliation.

Let’s just say my daughter was less
than thrilled. She did, however, allow me to stay, and while there,
while in the middle of my maternal regret, I encountered three
precious children who’d been abandoned by their mother, and I began
to sense that God wanted me to help them.

Talk about
ironic, huh? Here I was, suffering the consequences of neglecting my
own child when she needed me most being called to reach out to
neglected children.

I’d heard God often brings us back to
our points of greatest failure in order to help us fully grab hold of
the freedom He offers in Christ.

I’ve also heard He can turn our
greatest pain into our most powerful ministry.

I’m not sure if that’s true or not,
but for now, I keep stepping. Keep trusting. Keep hoping that He can
turn my sorry life into something beautiful. And in the meantime, I’m
grateful that I don’t have to go this road alone. Not only do I
have Christ, always with me, but He’s brought me a sweet (and
handsome!) friend to walk along beside me.

Now there’s a plot twist, huh? To
think God might be offering me a second chance of love.

All this after I prayed for a miracle.

If this is how God works out His plans,
I’ll take a hurricane any day.

Jennifer
Slattery writes
soul-stirring fiction for New Hope Publishers, a publishing house
passionate about bringing God’s healing grace and truth to the
hopeless. She also writes for Crosswalk.com, Internet Café
Devotions, and the group blog, Faith-filled Friends. When not
writing, Jennifer loves going on mall dates with her teenage daughter
and coffee dates with her handsome railroader husband.

As
the hurricane forces Jacqueline to evacuate, her need for purpose and
restitution forces her to head north to her estranged and embittered
daughter and into the arms of a handsome new friend. Dealing with his
own issues, Jacqueline isn’t sure if he will be the one she can
lean on during the difficult days ahead. And then there are the three
orphans to consider, especially Gavin. Must she relinquish her chance
at having love again in order to be restored?

Last night I was bewailing this titanic failure to my mom and she said something to the affect of, "Natalie, just think of all those books you wouldn't have read if you hadn't challenged yourself to read that many."

On a related note, I watched the movie When the Game Stands Tall a couple nights ago. My takeaway was that we're not always as perfect as we'd like to be, but we can give a perfect effort. That's what we should aim for. We should aim high and do our best. Just don't steamroll your sense of self-worth if you aim for the impossible and don't reach it.

Also true is that we humans tend to think more highly of ourselves than we ought. Oxymoron, anyone? Even so, while we can be quite narcissistic, sometimes our own expectations can set us up for feelings of deep failure when we don't meet them. And all along, all that God wants from us is for us to love Him and give our best effort to obey His Word. (BTW, when we love Him, we will want to obey Him. Can't explain why. It just works thataway.)

To end this rambling post (I promise that's not a harbinger for my future posts, lol), I must include my One Word for 2015. While everyone is choosing a new life word or "One Word" for 2015, mine is...

CHERISH

Several dream-like opportunities lay ahead in 2015, but if I don't work to meet my goals, those opportunities may pass. I need to cherish those opportunities and work diligently. I'm surrounded by the most wonderful family a girl could ask for, and need to better practice balancing writing, work, and family time, because I don't want to miss a moment I could have enjoyed with my amazing loved ones. Most of all, I want to learn to cherish my Savior more. And cherishing Him means cherishing the things He cherishes. I also want to be more of a witness of His saving grace. In 2015, I want "to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God." (Micah 6:8)

Some books I read this year and my brief thoughts on them:

A really fun book. Enjoyed this one and recommend it for a fun Christmas read guaranteed to bring you a laugh.

This one reminded me how much I like military suspense.

This
series wreaked havoc on my emotions, haha! So many twists and turns to
show the grace of God's care even in painful situations. Poignant is the word I'd use to describe it. If you're going
to read them, keep the next books right next to you and tissues handy.

Vanished was the first I'd tried by Irene Hannon. Let me just say she knows what she's doing in that genre. Gripping story.

An intriguing look at the times of young king Josiah.

Excellent book on plotting. There were some unnecessary "four letter words" that lent the book a unprofessional air. Hopefully the author has changed this now, because this is one of the most condensed, choc-full-of solid writing advice craft books I've read so far.

This has been my most recommended craft book this year. Excellent. If I wanted to learn to write gripping prose, here's where I'd start.

This book surprised me. I was shocked at how insightful this book is. It was written in the 1800s and explores the pros and cons of relationships carried out via text messages. Has an interesting love story plot, too.

P.S. I just logged back into my Goodreads and found a book I'd read this year marked as a 2013 read. The book wasn't released in 2013, lol. I read it this year, set the date to this year, so now my "books read" tally is officially 50. But it's too late to change this post now. LOL. Just didn't want to be lying to the internet--on the first day of the year of all things. :D

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Natalie Monk writes award-winning and ECPA bestselling historical romance. She is currently brainstorming her sixth writing project. She is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers and is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency.
A country girl from the time she could shimmy under a string of barbed wire, Natalie makes her home in North Mississippi. She proudly wears the label “preacher’s kid,” is a homeschool graduate, a nonpracticing certified wedding planner, and a former fence post digger. She loves sweet tea, girl talk (usually about books), porch swings, and watching old movies with her family. Her goal in writing, and in living, is to bring glory to her Savior, Jesus Christ.